School Library Month, 2015

School Library Month has been so much fun.  I participated in a number of online forums, meetings, training sessions and of course Twitter hangouts.  All in all, it was great.  Here's a video my Behind the Paws and Anime/Manga Club made celebrating this special month.

Bronzeville History

Students are viewing a clip from the award winning series, "Eyes On the Prize"

Wendell Phillips Academy High School is located in Chicago's historic Bronzeville south side neighborhood.   Bronzeville served as place of 'new opportunities' for millions of African-Americans when they left rural southern states to come 'north' for a new life.  Many stopped in Chicago, while other families continued on to Detroit, New York and California.

The Leadership Department at my school decided to create a unit for the entire student body about people in history who displayed admirable leadership/courage during trying times.  The topic they selected was The Murder of Emmett Till.  Through this lecture I've been giving this week, the students are learning about the leadership/courage of:
- Mamie Till Mobley (mother of Emmett Till),
- John H. Johnson (Publisher, Ebony/Jet Magazine),
- Ahmed Rayner (funeral home director)
- and Mose Wright (uncle of Emmett Till).

The goal of this lesson was to not only discuss their displays of leadership, but to also educate the students about the historical influence the key players had as it relates to their grassroots in Bronzeville.  So far, the students have really enjoyed the lecture/presentation.

I will like to add that I've taught this lesson off and on for over ten years.  Each time I teach this lesson, I learn something new.  The Keith Beauchamp documentary called, The Untold Story of Emmett Till, provides historians with a new and fresh perspective about the unsolved civil rights era murder.  I credit much of my lecture to the new research provided by Beauchamp's film.

The Emmett Till story is an important story that must be re-told to generations to come.  Below you will find the powerpoint presentation as well as a internet pathfinder.  The teachers that I am co-teaching with have plans to load this pathfinder into each classes Schoology pages for further discussion and study.

The Murder of Emmett Louis Till from K.C. Boyd

Emmett Till Internet Pathfinder

Compiled by KC Boyd, M.L.S., M.A., M.Ed.

Online Interactive Resources
PBS American Experience - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/index.html  
The Murder of Emmett Louis Till: The Spark that Started the Civil Rights
Movement - http://www.edwardmalone.com/Murder.htm Emmett Till Murder - http://www.emmetttillmurder.com/
Emmett Till – Biography Channel -
http://www.biography.com/people/emmett-till-507515

The Courage of Mamie Till Mobley and Jet Magazine Editor/Chief
Emmett’s Legacy: A Mother Keeps Her Son’s Name Alive
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-09- 05/features/9509050005_1_tallahatchie-river-mississippi-naacp-black-race
The Face of Emmett Till -
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/05/14/731205/-The-Face-of-Emmett- Till-UPDATED
Emmett Till – A Story With Lasting Power -
http://barrybradford.com/2013/08/29/guest-post-emmett-till-a-story-with- lasting-power/

Videos
Eyes On the Prize: Emmett Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxK8u58PqTE
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvijYSJtkQk

Very short account of the Murder of Emmett Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7Dn5fw0cY
The Emmett Tlll Case Re-Opened: 60 Minutes (Ed Bradley) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQC5WJMYaug

Books
Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America by Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson http://www.amazon.com/Death-Innocence-Story-Changed- America/dp/0812970470/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 3&keywords=emmett+till
Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till By Simeon Wright and Herb Boyd http://www.amazon.com/Simeons-Story-Eyewitness-Account- Kidnapping/dp/1569768196/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223046&sr=8- 1&keywords=emmett+till
Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case By Chris Crowe
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Away-Murder-Story- Emmett/dp/0803728042/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 2&keywords=emmett+till
A Wreath for Emmett Till
By Marilyn Nelson http://www.amazon.com/Wreath-Emmett-Till-Marilyn- Nelson/dp/0547076363/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 5&keywords=emmett+till

Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin Comparison
A Longer Look at the Emmett Till- Trayon Martin Comparison
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolaus-mills/emmett-till-trayvon- martin_b_3606636.html
NAACP Compares Trayvon Martin Death To Emmett Till Lynching
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/07/16/NAACP-Compares- Trayvon-Martin-Death-to-Emmett-Till-Lynching
Justice Denied: Is Trayvon Martin Post-Racial America’s Emmett Till?
http://www.nationofchange.org/justice-denied-trayvon-martin-post-racial- america-s-emmett-till-1374329793

Picture of Ahmed Rayner
Courtesy of Pamela Rayner, October 2013 

My Avid Reader

     This is Davion a high energy and a voracious reader.  I will never forget the first time I met him.  It was August and he was a freshman student excited about attending high school.  He came into the library media center with a laundry list of Street Lit. titles...some I had not even heard of.  It is Davion that I credit for changing my policy on students checking out adult Street Lit. books.  

    Until I met Davion, I only circulated the books to my juniors and seniors.  I wanted to guide my freshman and sophomore students into reading young adult books that they had not been exposed to in grammar school.  Davion like other students that year really challenged me.  They had read Street Lit. young adult books while enrolled in grammar school and they wanted to read the adult versions.  I couldn't tell them no, so my principal and I devised a plan for the circulation of the books with the parent's permission.

    I've experienced much criticism for circulating the adult titles to teens.  The interesting thing is the parents support the circulation and they read the books too.  Since implementing this, I've had less than a handful of parents that have rejected it.  At the end of the day, literacy is spread in the home and the student enjoys reading a good book.

     In part 2 of 'Conversations at the Circulation Desk' sophomore student Davion describes why he enjoys using eReaders, participating in the Phillips book club and shares some of his favorite books.  If you would like to view part one of the series, just click the link provided below.

Conversations from the Circulation Desk, part 1 - http://theaudaciouslibrarian.blogspot.com/2013/09/conversations-at-circulation-desk.html 

Conversations At The Circulation Desk

I've served numerous communities as school librarian for Chicago Public Schools for a number of years.  During this time I have heard stories that would make you cry, have had conversations that will raise an eyebrow and have heard stories that will just crack you up.   My students at my current school often times come in the Library Media Center and address me as 'Ma'.  (RANT - I blame my principal who started calling me 'Mama Boyd' in front of the children...LOL!)  I used to really trip out of this 'term of endearment',  but now I take this in stride.   In all of the years I have taught, I've learned one major thing about teens:  the will not share personal information with you if they do not like you.  #RealTalk

Conversations At The Circulation Desk is a new video series that I have created that celebrates the teen mind.  Videos shared through this series feature some of my students and the funny and prolific things that they say.  All students who appear in this video series have approved the use of their image and have had their parent sign a media release form for the school.   I'm a little late posting this video. I actually started taping this series in June and got sidetracked with other projects.  In this first episode, Junior student Rebeca talks about why teens enjoy reading Street Literature.   I hope you will enjoy what she says.

Library Orientation Video

Just pulled this Flocabulary video off of my Pinterest page.  I do believe this video will get the attention of my freshman students during orientation of the Library Media Center.  Enjoy!